| Website traffic is a big issue nowadays, what with the Internet market taking off, and what with the thousands of websites that all have similar aims, goals, products, and services, but with the quandary of how to pull customers to their end of the web universe. In other words, there are a whole lot of pedestrians on the street, and a whole lot of shops that are lining the avenues ? so the issue is how to get pedestrians to cross the street and brave other websites to get to yours. The metaphor might be lacking, but if you are interested in web traffic and being more popular and useful online, then you should get the point. Website traffic can make or break a business, and not just the website that represents it. The more people that get to a website, the more popular it becomes, and the higher it will rank in lists and search engines. The more visitors a website has, the more profitable it becomes, and the better the credibility of the company that it represents. In other words, get people to go to your site, and you earn money. And, in other words, your problem is how to not only get people to your site, but to make them stay there, and to have them coming back again and again to avail of your services. There are many ways that traffic can be redirected to one site, and not to another. A site might have great content that search engines love, simply because the words and phrases are available at a certain density that might indicate website owner and developer creativity and credibility. A site might be popular on blogs or online journals, and people might go to it simply because a blog owner likes it. Or a site might be heavy on the graphics and free downloads, making people flock to it to get a piece of the pie. But, as in the offline world, the businesses that thrive are those that meet customer needs, and meet these needs even as they change. In the online arena, this may mean updating your website every so often ? but how far can mere text go if you have customers who are very graphics and visuals oriented? One way that you can take advantage of this orientation is by presenting and offering for download an electronic magazine, or ezine. An ezine is simply a magazine version of the text that you would like to update on your site. This magazine can either be downloaded as a PDF, so that customers can browse through it; or as software, so that customers can see graphics that make them appear as though they are flipping pages or looking at a real, printed magazine. A PDF will be the lighter file, and this can be advantageous to customers who want to download only small files without regard for graphics quality. The software, of course, is heavier and will take longer to download, but it can offer your customers some animation, graphics, and other features that can make the ezine more interesting. Offer this ezine every two weeks or every month, and you can start meeting customer needs. What might an ezine contain? You can have a collection of pictures from photographers that you know, and a magazine full of photographs can be nice to look at while browsing the Internet on the train on the way home. You can have a collection of short stories from up-and-coming authors, and a magazine full of stories can be nice to read while taking time off from work. You can have a real magazine set up complete with editorials and articles, which can be great if you?re making a magazine for moms and helping them out with their housekeeping. These are only a few ideas that you might want to take into consideration, but you should get the point. The best ezines are those that cater to the visual and brain needs of its market ? and the best ezines are those that make a website more useful, and can thus help it get a lot more traffic. |